Paffett believes Magnussen can push Button

McLaren test driver Gary Paffett believes that rookie Kevin Magnussen will be able to push Jenson Button this season.

Reigning Formula Renault 3.5 champion Magnussen will make his debut for McLaren in 2014, having replaces Sergio Perez at the team.

Button eclipsed Perez by 24 points during 2013, in which McLaren failed to finish on the podium. In qualifying, Button was beaten 10-9 overall by the Mexican, but Paffett believes that his fellow Brit needs to be pushed more in qualifying and cites Button's performance compared to Lewis Hamilton as an example.

"What we want to see at McLaren is Jenson to be pushed hard this year," said Paffett at the annual AUTOSPORT International show in Birmingham.

"Jenson needs someone quicker than him to push him harder. That's what we saw with Lewis Hamilton in the team."

"Lewis is one of the best qualifiers on the grid, and he always pushed Jenson past the limit, so Jenson had to work very hard to keep up. Last year with the drivers quite closely matched there didn't seem to be too much pushing going on in the team and I really think Kevin can bring that. What we've seen of him so far in testing, he is extremely fast."

Paffett also believes that Magnussen has cut out his reckless traits and became a 'complete driver' during his successful 2013 campaign.

"Kevin lacks the experience of racing in F1 but what we saw over the last two years in World Series was how much he changed as a driver. He was quick but a bit reckless and had a lot of incidents in 2012, but in 2013 he was a very complete driver - still quick but a lot wiser and a lot more technical than he was before."

"He still has a lot to learn in Formula 1 but he is very quick and he does learn well and he does change to make himself better."